"I'm completely surrounded by morons - morons that I love nonetheless," said the drill sergeant to his soldiers. This line - one of many from the improvisational comedy scenes at Dirty South Improv's 24LIVE - likely would describe the sentiments of the actors who volunteered to perform for 28 straight hours Friday night. The event kicked off at 7:30 p.m. Friday and lasted until 11:30 p.m. Saturday, and it featured eight core performers who stayed on-stage almost the entire time. The event was composed of DSI's own performers, but UNC's CHiPs and Chapel Hill High School's improv group were among the numerous guest performers. "The scenes are all starting to blur together after maybe 12 hours in," said Chris Gethard, a visiting performer from New York City. Gethard teaches improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, but he came to the area to participate in 24LIVE at the request of some local friends. "Everybody I've met from this theater has been so weirdly nice," he said. "It's such a good, positive place." Gethard has seen acts from all over the country, but was impressed by the success of DSI. "I think New York, Chicago, L.A. are all places you traditionally think of theaters like this existing," he said. "Then you see how fast DSI has grown - to me that's pretty remarkable." Gethard's favorite scene he had done as of 6 p.m. Saturday involved a ghost that smelled of bread. While most audiences members attended intermittently, Eitan Lees, a sophomore at CHHS, was one of the few committed to staying for the entire event. "When you stay for so long, you're in a different state of mind," he said. A member of his high school's improv team, Lees viewed the experience as a good way to hone his improv skills. "When you get to see a lot of improv, you learn a lot - the more you watch it, the more you understand it." Nearing the end of the event, Lees checked his watch. "Five hours left? That's nothing." Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
